Nevada CHL Holder Shot by Police in Las Vegas Costco
What is being described as "mad man" being killed by police after refusing to put down his gun in Las Vegas, is taking a turn for the worse as it appears a CHL holder was gunned down by police who took his movements as threatening, when maybe he thought he was only complying with their instructions.
"The witnesses differed in their recollection of what one of the officers said.
A witness named Amesbury heard, "I told you to stop. Stop!!!"
Two witnesses interviewed Sunday heard, "Drop it."
A fourth witness, interviewed Saturday, heard, "Get down," "Put it down," or "Get out of the way."
A second anonymous witness said Sunday he saw Scott [the deceased CHL holder] pull up his shirt and turn toward the shouting officer. Then he saw the man get shot, drop to his knees and fall face-first in front of the entrance.
"There wasn't even time for someone to react," the second witness said. "The guy didn't pull a gun. There was no gun in his hand, there was no gun on the ground."
The second witness said he was interviewed by homicide detectives and gave them the same account.
The first anonymous witness also didn't see Scott make a threat.
"I certainly did not see the guy do anything with a gun that would threaten anybody," the first witness said Sunday. "It appeared to me that if he had guns on him, that they were literally in his pocket or in his waist."
The first witness also was interviewed by homicide detectives about the shooting.
Amesbury said he did not see the man get shot, but, "When I go around the corner, I see this guy laid out. I didn't see a gun." Amesbury's view of the shooting was blocked by stone pillars. He was not interviewed by police.
Before the shooting, Scott was walking with a woman that three witnesses thought was his girlfriend. They said she became distraught after the shooting. The incident also left the witnesses shaken.
It's just incredible "with all these people around that Metro would provoke something there," the second witness said. "I don't want to second-guess the police, but wouldn't it have been better to confront him out at his car?"
After the shooting, some people in the crowd panicked. An elderly woman was knocked down and cut her elbow in the chaos, the second witness said.
Only Scott was struck by gunfire .
Police said Scott had two handguns on him when he was shot. Another witness, Goodman, said Scott had a concealed-weapons permit.
Scott's friend, Pusateri, said his friend was a "safety freak" around guns. He said that "absolutely not in a million years" would Scott be careless with them around others.
Scott graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point, in New York, in 1994 and was stationed for a time at Fort Hood, Texas, as a tank platoon leader. In 2003, he graduated from Duke University in North Carolina with a master's degree in business administration."
Costco employees apparently freaked out when one employee saw part of a gun a CHL holder was carrying. They told him CCW were not allowed in the store although the store had no signs. They called the police and began evacuating the store calling it a bomb scare. Our victim was exiting the store with all the other customers and his girlfriend. A Costco employee pointed him out to a police officer at the door who allowed him to pass. Two officers outside already had their weapons drawn. Outside the officers stopped him. He apparently raised his shirt, either to show the gun to the officers or as they thought to reach for the gun.
He was then killed with at least 7 bullets fired by the police, in front of his girlfriend and the other shoppers.
The point here for us is that in dealing with police officers, the hands go slowly up in the air and never go anywhere else.
FYI,
